some of kingston’s amazing contributions to aviation progress … · hawker tempest 1944 downs...

Some of Kingston’s amazing contributions

to aviation progress since 1912

In 1910, 21 year old Tommy Sopwith teaches himself to fly, breaks records and wins prizes

In 1912, he starts the Sopwith School of Aviation at Brooklands airfield

Engineer Fred Sigrist builds them a better aircraft and the Admiralty buy it

Sopwith Aviation buys the Roller Skating Rink in Kingston upon Thames as their factory

Guided by test pilot Harry Hawker, a succession of world class aircraft will be designed and built in Kingston and flown from Brooklands

Sopwith Bat Boat 1913

First British flying boat

World’s first practical amphibian - land and water

Sopwith “Circuit of Britain” floatplane 1913

Harry Hawker flies 1,000 miles around the coast

Sopwith Tabloid, 1914 Schneider Trophy winner

First British aircraft to win a major international air race

Sopwith Tabloid 1914

First aircraft to destroy a Zeppelin airship

Sopwith Schneider and Baby floatplanes 1914 to 1918

Operated from ship and shore on submarine and Zeppelin patrols

Sopwith 11/2 Strutter 1916

First two-gun two-seat tractor fighter has synchronised forward firing gun

Sopwith Pup 1916

World’s first fixed-gun single-seat fighter

Sopwith Pup 1916 and 1917

First aircraft to land on a moving ship

Sopwith Triplane 1916

First triplane fighter, dominant over France early 1917

Sopwith Camel 1917

Most successful allied fighter in the First World War

Sopwith Dolphin 1918

World’s first four-gun fighter

Sopwith Snipe 1918

“Best fighter in the First World War”

RAF’s standard front-line fighter to 1925

Sopwith designed 60% of the single-seat aircraft built for the British Services in the First World War

By 1918 Sopwith Aviation employ 3,000 people in Kingston and have built 3,000 aircraft

18,000 Sopwith designed aircraft are built in total

Sopwith Atlantic 1919

Harry Hawker and co-pilot almost achieve the first trans-Atlantic flight

Sopwith Cuckoo 1918

First British torpedo ’plane to operate from aircraft carriers

In 1920, with very few orders, Sopwith Aviation is forced into voluntary liquidation

Having paid all creditors, they re-start as the much smaller H.G.Hawker Engineering Co.

Hawker Engineering sells some new designs but really expands once Sydney Camm becomes Chief Designer

Hawker Cygnet 1924, Sydney Camm’s first design

Very light aircraft, highly successful in competitions and races

Hawker Hart light bomber 1928

Easy-to-build, light, rugged steel tube construction

Faster than the RAF’s best fighters

Hawker Fury fighter 1931

First 200mph aircraft in RAF service

At times in the 1930s over 80% of RAF aircraft are Sydney Camm designed powerful Hawker biplanes

Hawker Hurricane 1937

First 300mph aircraft in RAF service

Their first 8-gun fighter and first with retractable undercarriage

Hawker sheds at Brooklands are

rebuilt and extended for the Hurricane

By 1939, assembly & flight testing is

also underway in Hawker’s new factory

at Langley, Bucks.

Aircraft design, prototype build

and component manufacture always

remains in Kingston

Hawker Hurricane 1940

Most successful fighter in the Battle of Britain

Over 14,000 Hawker Hurricanes are built

Most widely used and successful allied fighter in WWII

Hawker Typhoon 1942

First 400mph aircraft in RAF service

Hawker Tempest 1944

Downs more V1 flying bombs than any other type

Hawker Sea Fury 1947

Amongst the world’s fastest piston-engined aircraft

Hawker Sea Hawk 1948

Royal Navy buy 420, more than any other jet aircraft type

In 1948 Hawker acquire a large Factory on Richmond Road in Ham, North Kingston

By 1958 an impressive design office fronts the factory

Langley work moves back to Kingston with Dunsfold in Surrey for final assembly and flight testing

1951 Hawker Hunter 1951

“Super Priority” for RAF & NATO – almost 2,000 built

Hawker Hunter achieves 727mph in 1953, a world record

Hawker P1127 1961 & Kestrel 1964

Unique vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing aircraft

Harrier 1969

World’s first operational VTOL aircraft wins air race between New York and London city centres

Kingston-built Harriers are sold to the US Marine Corps

First foreign military aircraft bought by the USA since 1918

Hawker Siddeley Sea Harrier 1979

Crucial to success in the Falklands conflict

BAe/McDonnell Douglas Harrier II 1983

Second generation Harriers for US Marines, RAF, Spain and Italy

British Forces use Harriers for 41 years

Crucial in peace-keeping & most other campaigns

Hawker Siddeley Hawk 1971

Last all-British aircraft into RAF service

Remaining operational until at least 2015

BAe/McDonnell Douglas Goshawk 1988

Navalised Hawk trainer, operated by the US Navy

BAe Hawks continue to operate around the world

Nearly 1,000 built so far, including some single seaters

45,000 Kingston designed aircraft have been built

From 1912 to 1992,

thousands of people work with determination and skill

to design, build and sell

world-class aircraft

As a legacy, aeronautical engineers are still being trained

at Kingston College and Kingston University

The RAF have always had Kingston aircraft in service

Compiled by members of the Hawker Association

for the Kingston Aviation Centenary Project

Photographs courtesy of

BAe Systems, from private collections and via the Brooklands Museum